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J. PIZZUTO ADJUSTABLE PRESSURE PAD FOR HOLDING Feb. 7, 1956 SCREW SHANKS IN A ROTARY CARRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1952 p INVENTOR ATTORNEY Feb. 7, 1956 J. PIZZUTO 2,733,457

ADJUSTABLE PRESSURE PAD FOR HOLDING SCREW SHANKS IN A ROTARY CARRIER Filed Jan. 23, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W WW BY ATTORNEY5 Feb. 7, 1956 J. PIZZUTO ADJUSTABLE PRESSURE PAD FOR HOLDING SCREW SHANKS IN A ROTARY CARRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 23, 1952 ADJUSTABLE PRESSURE PAD FOR HOLDING SCREW SHANKS IN A ROTARY CARRIER Application January 23, 1952, Serial No. 267,720 3 Claims. (Cl. 10-6) This invention relates to screw-slotting machines and more particularly to devices of this character known as high speed screw-slotting machines in that the screws are fed continuously to the machine and are slotted during their travel therethrough. This enables the work to be carried on at a very rapid rate as contrasted with another common type of slotting machines wherein the blanks remain stationary in the machine during the slotting operation.

In the type of machine with which the present application is concerned, the screws are fed to a rotary dial and are carried through the machine by this dial. The dial is hollow, and mounted eccentrically within the dial is a central screw-slotting saw. The saw rotates in a direction opposite that of the dial and due to the eccentricity of the two rotating members the space between the cutting edge of the saw and the inner periphery of the dial is such that the saw would not come in contact with the head of a blank carried by the dial during a large part of its movement. However, the saw will contact the head of the blank during an appreciable part of its travel depending upon the size of the screw being slotted. It thus effectively slots each screw and moreover is in engagement with a number of blanks or screw heads at one time so that there is no abrupt shift or change over from one blank to another.

The carrying dial is in the form of a ring member provided with a plurality of radial grooves upon one face to hold the shanks or bodies of the blanks. It is necessary that the blanks be held against rotation while they are in contact with the saw and that they be prevented from dropping out of the carrying dial once they have been entrained therein. In the past a cover plate has been provided to rest against the bodies of the blanks, which project outwardly beyond the face of the dial to a slight extent. As there is some difference in the diameter of the blanks with which the machine may be employed from time to time, and also for other reasons, it is necessary to adjust this cover plate inwardly or outwardly with respect to the carrying dial in order to properly hold the blanks in position and clamps were provided on the cover plate to spring it inwardly against the bodies of the blanks. As the cover plate was of considerable thickness, it required a great deal of force to spring the plate and was unsatisfactory for other reasons.

The present invention relates to an improved means for holding the blanks in place in the carrying dial, which means will be readily adjustable to and from the face of the dial without undue effort and will take care of small differences in the diameter of the shanks of the screws or other blanks without placing undue pressure upon the blanks themselves. y j

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved high speed slotting machine for the slotting of screw or bolt blanks or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a high speed screw-slotting machine having a carrying dial with United States Patent 2,733,457 Patented Feb. 7, 19 56 an adjustable pressure ring to hold the blanks in proper position in the dial.

A still further object of the invention is to provide-a high speed screw-slotting machine having a rotatable carrying dial with a pressure pad or pressure ring adapted to be set up against the bodies of the blanks in the dial to hold them securely therein, the pressure ring being susceptible to relatively fine adjustments so that it can be moved toward and from the carrying dial to accommodate small variations in the diameters of the blanks.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of improved means engaging the heads'of the blanks to prevent radial movement of the latter.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a portion of a screw-slotting machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the cover plate spring of the machine; and

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the pressure pad or pressure ring.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown in the drawings a screw-slotting machine having a stationary head 10 (Fig. 2) to which is se cured a hearing sleeve 11 by bolts 12. Within the bearing sleeve is rotatably mounted the shaft 13 upon the forward end of which is secured the saw or cutter 14 by the clamping members 15 and 16 and nut 17.

The head 10 is a ring-like member and rotatably mounted within the head is the hub 13 of a gear 19, the hub being carried upon anti-friction bearings 20 and 21 so that the gear will be freely rotatable independently of the shaft 13.

The carrier dial 23 is secured to the forward face of the gear 19 by pins 24 and screws 24*. This carrier dial comprises an annular member having a plurality of radial grooves 25 (Fig. 1) cut into its forward face, which grooves are adapted, as shown in this figure and also in Fig. 2, to receive the bodies of the blanks 26 with the heads of the blanks directed inwardly or toward the radius of the carrier dial.

From Fig. 2 of the drawings it will be apparent that while the shaft 13 is mounted in the bearing sleeve 11, the carrier dial which is secured to the gear 19 is mounted in an opening in the stationary head 10 by the ball bearings 2i) and 21. The opening in the head which receives the bearings is slightly eccentric to the axis of the shaft 13 so that, as shown in Fig. 1, the saw 14 will be eccentricall} mounted with respect to the inner periphery of the carrier dial 23. From inspection of this figure, it will be seen that at the righthand side of the figure the teeth of the cutter approach the inner periphery of the carrier ring more closely than at the lefthand side of the figure and, as shown in dotted lines at the right, the teeth of the cutter will engage the heads of blanks 26 for approximately degrees of their travel about the axis of the cutter. It is also preferable to rotate the cutter in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the carrier dial, and means, not shown, are provided to effect rotation of these parts in opposite directions.

Blanks may be delivered to the machine by a chute between spaced members 27 and 28 (Fig. 2) and, as also shown in Fig. 1, this chute may be provided with a cover plate 29 to prevent the blanks being dislodged from the chute, the blanks traveling along the chute with their heads upwardly between the cover plate and the members 27 and 28. When the blanks reach the end of this chute they are picked up by an indexing wheel 31 mounted on averticalshaft-SZ and rotated by any suitable means,

not. shown. This wheel carries the blanks through an arc of approximately 180 degrees from the chute to the carrier wheel 23 (Fig. 2) where they are picked up by the latter and carriedabout the periphery of the saw.

It is, of course, necessary to provide some means to prevent blanks from becoming dislodged from the grooves ZSof the carrier wheel 23-, andalso toholdthemin place with suflicient pressure so that they will be properly operated upon by the cutter 14, and the means for effecting this result'will now bedescribed.

As shown in Fig.- 2, a cover plate is secured to the face of the stationary head 16' by screws 36, this cover plate being a ring-like member extending through an angle of. substantially 270degrees, one edge of it being shown at 37 andthe opposite edge being shown at 38. As shown in Fig. 2, the-opening in this member is of greater'diameter than the carrier dial 23.

Mounted within-this opening in the cover plate 35 is a pressure pad 40 (Fig. 4), this pad' being held in place by its engagement with the inner circumference of the cover plate and beingheld against rotation by a key 41 (Fig. 2) secured by a screw 42. to the cover plate. The lower edge of this key enters a recess 43 in the pressure padso asto permit the latter to move toward and from the carrier dial 23 or axially of the shaft 13 while preventing it-from rotating. 7

Secured to the inner periphery of the pressure pad by screws 45 is a retainer ring 46 having at its inner edge a flange 47 which lies against the head of the blank and holds it inone of the grooves in the carrier dial. The grooves in the carrier dial are preferably somewhat shallower than the diameters of the bodies of the blanks so that the latter projectslightly from the surface of the dial, and it will be seen from Fig; 2 that the inner edge of the pressure pad. 40 bears against the bodies of the blanks and holds them against rotation while the retainer ring 46 holds them against movement in a direction radiallyiof the carrier.

It is necessary to apply pressure to the pressure pad in order to cause the inner surface thereof tobear against the-blanks, and this is effected by means of a spring plate 50-.shown in Fig. 3. This plate is secured to the cover plate 35 by screws 51 and is slotted, as. shown atSZ and 53, to provide resilient fingers 54, the inner ends of which extend radially to a positionoppositethe pressure pad 40. It will be seen from Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings that this spring plate is of slightly less extent circumferentially than either the pressure pad 4-0 or the cover plate, 35.

Adjusting screws 55 are threaded in the spring fingers 54 adjacent the inner ends thereof, which screws bear against the pressure pad 40 to urge'the latter inwardly against the blanks. It will be understood that as the fingers 54 are resilient, the pressure upon the pad may be varied by the-threaded adjustment of the screws 55, and as there are a number of these fingers, the pressure at one point may be varied with respect to that at another point. For example, thelarge opening 53in the spring plate 50' is provided to permit the mounting of a bracket 56 (Fig. 1) to support a cutter for trimmingthe burrs from the blanks. At this point it is desirable to decrease the pressure so that the blanks may rotate and, with the independent spring fingers54, each having an adjusting screw at its inner end bearing against the pressure pad, this adjustment may be readily effected. If desired, the spring plate 50' may be made in two or more sectors or sections. For example, thatportion of this plate which is=opposite the burr remover may be made as a separate part from. the: remainder of the plate.

Also, withthe'pressure-pad lying within the opening of the cover plate 35, it is not necessary to remove the latter in-orde-rto remove the carrier dial,- but only necessary to remove the spring plate 59 and pressure pad 40 to take the dial ofi.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment' of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of'the' claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a screw-slottingmachine having a carrier dial for carrying the blanks in a1 circular path, a stationary head in which said'dial is rotatably mounted, a substantially rigid cover plate-securedltothe hea'dand presenting an opening substantially in registration with said dial, a substantially rigid pressure" pad' of arcuate shape supported by the cover plate and mounted in said opening for free sliding movement toward and from the face of the dial, means for preventing rotating movement of the pressure pad with respect to the cover plate, a spring plate'of arcuateshape carriedby' the cover plate and having radially inwardly projecting spring fingers extending beyond the-inner edge ofthe cover plate, and independent means adjustable'axially of the dial for transmitting pressurefrom'each of said spring fingers to said pad.

2 In a screw-slotting machine having a carrier dial for carrying the blanks in a circular path, a stationary head in which said dial is rotatably mounted, a substantially rigid cover plate secured to the head and presenting an opening substantially in registration with said dial, a substantially rigid pressure pad of arcuate shape supported by the cover plate and mounted in said opening for free sliding movement toward and from the face of the dial, means for preventing rotating movement of the pressure pad with respect to the cover plate, a spring plate of arcuate shape carriedby'the cover plate and having radially inwardly projecting spring fingers extending beyond the inner edge of the cover plate, and independent means adjustable axially of the dial for transmitting pressure fromeach of said spring fingers to said pad, said cover plate being ofannular form andof more than degrees-in extent, and said pressure pad-being of more than 180 degrees-in-extent whereby the latter is supported by engagement with the'wall of the opening in the cover plate.

3. In ascrew-slotting'machine having a carrier dial for carrying the'blanks in a circular path, a stationary head in which said dial is rotatably mounted, a substantiallyrigid cover plate'secured'to the head and presenting an opening sub'stantially inregistration with said dial, a substantially rigid pressure pad of arcuate shape supported bythe 'cover'plate and mounted in said opening for freeslidingimovernent toward and from the face of the dial, means? for. preventing? rotating movement of the pressure pad respect to the cover plate, a spring plate ofiarcuate'shape carried by the cover plate and haw ing radially inwardlyv projecting .spring fingers extending beyond the inner. edge :ofthe cover plate, and an adjusting screw threaded-into each of said fingers and bearing on .said'pressure-pad-for transmitting pressure from each finger to;said;pad.

References'Citedin the file of this patent UNITED- STATES PATENTS 

